Developer Ready To Build Chapel Trail Project

July 15, 1987|By TODD NELSON, Staff Writer

PEMBROKE PINES -- After 12 years of planning and working through the bureaucracy, developer Sherman Katz is ready to build one of the largest residential and commercial projects in southern Broward County.

Construction is scheduled to start in September on the first 200 homes in Chapel Trail, which, when completed in the mid-1990s, is planned for 3,200 residences and 8,000 people.

Chapel Trail is the largest of several developments either under construction, recently built or planned in the western part of the city. The $406 million project will be built on 1,800 acres off Pines Boulevard near U.S. 27.

When finished, Chapel Trail and other projects, including Century Village, Silver Lakes and Pembroke Meadows, will attract 30,000 residents to western Pembroke Pines, boosting the city`s population to 100,000 within 15 years.

``No question, Pembroke Pines is going to be a big city whether we like it or not,`` said Mayor Charles Flanagan. ``If I had my druthers, the city would stay like it was when I moved here in 1956 when there were cows in the back yard.

``The Chapel Trail development overall is not a bad looking one.``

Developers say the western residents will provide enough economic clout to support malls and other businesses, including a village commercial center within Chapel Trail.

The development, Katz said, is an indication of how the attitude of government planners has changed in the last decade.

Since planning for the project began in the mid-1970s, Katz said, officials have grown more favorable toward large developments in once remote areas.

``The time that we`ve spent at planning this has also been a time of transition for the county,`` Katz said.

A decade ago, voters in a straw poll said they opposed development in southwestern Broward. Now, officials recognize the county`s increasingly urban character, Katz said. They use the approval process to make sure projects are a benefit.

``If you`re going to rape the property, they`re going to cut you off at the knees,`` Katz said. ``If you have some kind of a reasonable plan, they`re going to listen to you.``

When Katz first submitted his plans, county officials would allow him to build only one unit to every 5 acres, which was significantly less than the four units per acre he initially asked for.

County officials also rejected his proposal for a private water and sewer system, which was essential for the project.